Just Visiting
by jadenanne7
Summary: My long-overdue version of Red's return. One-shot!


Hey guys! I can feel us getting closer and closer to finding out something! Anything, really! If I don't get an answer to at least one of my questions soon I am going to explode!

Anyhoo…. I own nothing.

Please read and review! Much love!

_Liz,_

_You don't know how much I don't want to leave with things the way they are, but this opportunity won't wait. I want us to take this time apart to think about what we want. I know that there is a way to have everything and still be together, and I will never stop looking for a way to make that happen. Please look with me. I'll be back in three days, prepared to lay all of my cards out on the table._

_Love, _

_Tom_

Elizabeth read Tom's note over and over again, looking for any hidden meaning, any indication that she should be worried. She found none. Honestly, she had hoped that he would change his mind and stay. Fleeing was the cowardly thing to do, and she didn't want to think of her husband as a coward. She folded the note back up and tossed it on the coffee table where she had found it. The day had been a bust and she just wanted to take a bath and crawl into bed and not think about her marriage.

As she ascended the stairs, Elizabeth slung her jacket over the railing and unbuttoned her blouse, intending to toss it in the laundry basket. She had barely reached the top step when she heard a noise. A key unlocking her front door. Tom had decided to stay after all! The blouse hit the floor and she took the stairs two at a time, eager to reach her husband. She rushed into the living room, gushing her thanks.

"Baby! I'm so glad you decided to stay! I was so worried…"

Elizabeth was struck speechless. Instead of her remorseful husband, Raymond Reddington stood in her living room.

"Tom is at the airport."

Elizabeth didn't know how to respond, so she stood in silence, appraising his appearance. His suit was immaculate, as always, but there was something off about him. His face was pale and rather gaunt, and the dark circles under his eyes gave away how little he'd been sleeping. Even though he wasn't looking his best, it was a far cry from what Elizabeth had expected. The pool of blood on the floor of the warehouse had fueled many imagined horrors. She'd had nightmares of knives and saws, had imagined him beaten and bloody. She would take tired and gaunt any day.

Elizabeth had failed to notice that while she was appraising Red, he was appraising her. It was quickly brought to her attention.

"Lizzie… as thrilled as I am to see you, I am just a bit concerned. Do you greet all of your guests like this?"

It figured that she couldn't manage to be dignified when Raymond Reddington finally decided to show his face. At least she was wearing one of her nicer bras. At least she was wearing a bra at all. The corners of Red's mouth turned up slightly, and Elizabeth decided that she could afford to forego dignity, just this once. She threw herself at him, flinging her arms around his neck, and was extremely grateful when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He smelled heavenly, and she realized how much she had missed that smell. She turned her face into his neck and felt him press his lips into her hair.

"Well hello to you, too. To what do I owe this show of affection?"

Lizzie sighed into his collar.

"Six months, Red."

She felt his chuckle rather than heard it. The sound vibrated through her body and she was reminded of just how little she was wearing.

"If I'd have known that absence truly does make the heart grow fonder, I would have stayed away longer. What would a year have gotten me?"

Elizabeth frowned.

"A slap in the face."

Red laughed and softly stroked her hair.

"Good girl."

She pulled away slightly, but Red only held her tighter.

"I don't get a lot of hugs lately. Indulge me."

They stood in the middle of her living room for a long time, and Elizabeth had to admit, she was enjoying being held. She hadn't been getting a lot of hugs lately either. She was disappointed when Red finally pulled away.

"We have to talk, but first, take my jacket. I consider myself a gentleman, but I'm still a man, and you are proving to be rather… distracting."

Elizabeth blushed crimson, and allowed Red to pull his jacket around her shoulders. It swallowed her, and she could sense Red's disapproval. The past six months had been extremely stressful, what with Red gone and Tom with one foot out the door, and she knew she hadn't been eating or sleeping like she should. She wasn't doing it on purpose, but she wasn't trying as hard as she could to take care of herself. Maybe now that Red was back things would start to settle down. Or maybe that was wishful thinking. She was surprised when Red led her to the armchair then seated himself on her couch, stretching out languidly as she balked in confusion.

"I like to look at you when we talk. I like to look at you… period."

Elizabeth could feel the blood rushing to her face yet again. He needed to stop looking at her like that, like she was the best thing he'd ever seen. It was inappropriate… no matter how much she liked it.

"So…where have you been?"

Lame. But, it was the best she could come up with.

"Around. Far enough away that you couldn't find me but close enough that I could keep an eye on you. I've always tried to be near… in case I was needed."

That was all she was going to get as far as a location, and she wasn't surprised that he had been right under their noses.

"The FBI… they're looking for you… following the trail of dead bodies. You've been busy."

Red smirked and drummed his fingers on the back of her couch.

"I've been… cleaning house. It's not something I've liked doing, but it is necessary. A clean slate is needed before I can truly return."

Elizabeth was confused. He wasn't coming back to work?

"I don't understand."

"My house is clean. Yours is not. There's still the matter of the mole. I cannot just let this person go. Sets a bad precedent."

She had never seen him so serious. She was frightened, but not for herself. Whoever the mole was, there was a good chance that it was someone she worked with everyday…someone she trusted…someone she would hate to see die. She pushed those thoughts out of her head.

"If you're not really back, then what are you doing here? Just visiting?"

"I didn't realize that I'm allowed to 'just visit'. I'll make a note of that. Actually…I'm here to discuss something rather personal."

Elizabeth sighed. There was only one personal subject that Red seemed interested in as of late, and she was in no mood to discuss Tom.

"If you're here to tell me that my marriage is in trouble, don't bother. I know it's a mess but we're working it out. Tom's out in Lincoln on a job interview and when he gets back we're going to sit down and iron things out."

She tried not to be offended when Red rolled his eyes and studied his fingernails like there could possibly be something underneath them. Please. His hands were probably cleaner than hers. She started to defend her husband –yet again- but Red stopped her with a wave of his hand.

"I don't see the point in interviewing for a job you've already taken, but your Tom is quite the odd duck."

Elizabeth was stunned. Tom had already taken the job? A job that would separate them? Because she sure as hell wasn't moving back to Nebraska. No. Red was mistaken.

"He couldn't have gotten the job already. This is the first time he's flown out…"

And of course it would be too much for Red to allow her to finish a thought.

"He's been interviewing by phone for two months now. He's not going to Lincoln to get a job. He's going to get a house. Or an apartment. He hasn't decided yet."

"I don't believe you."

If what Red was saying was true… it meant that Tom was leaving her. He was going behind her back and setting up a whole new life for himself. The thought made her physically ill. If he could do that, then she didn't matter to him anymore.

"I've got the phone records. His phone has been tapped for quite some time now. I can get them and you'll have your proof. But I think you already know I'm not lying."

Elizabeth stared at the note that sat folded up on the table. Was this what Tom meant by laying all of his cards out on the table? 'I'm done with what you want, it's what I want or we're done'?

"So he's leaving me. He's going to Nebraska and I'm all alone."

Red's laughter was so out of place, considering what Elizabeth was feeling.

"Oh, that would solve so many problems for me… but that's not quite what's going on. He's not planning on flying solo. You're going with… or at least that's the plan."

What did he mean she was 'going with'? She wasn't going anywhere. Her life was here. Her job was here. Red was here… Nebraska was just NOT going to happen.

"I told Tom that I would think about it. We were going to sit down and decide. Together."

Red stood and paced the floor in front of the couch.

"He's trying to take the decision completely out of your hands. I know you've said that your marriage is off-limits to me, and I've tried to respect that, but I cannot sit by and watch this happen. Not when I know that you're so desperate to save your marriage that you'll follow the fool anywhere."

Elizabeth's eyes welled, and she fought desperately not to be touched by his concern.

"You're right. I would have followed him anywhere. And, eventually, I would have followed him to Nebraska. But… not now. I've had enough. I'm sick of men that try to control me and I'm sick of just letting them. And don't think that doesn't count for you, too. You don't get to push me around. Don't even try to deny it, you are just as controlling as Tom is, you're just better at sugar-coating it."

Red's eyes snapped, and for a moment, Elizabeth regretted including him in her tirade. But then, the corners of his mouth turned up into the most genuine smile she had ever seen him give.

"Backbone, Lizzie. I like it."

Red's gaze held hers for a tense moment, then dropped to the not folded up on the coffee table. He gestured towards it, silently asking for her permission to nose around. She nodded slightly, curious to see what his reaction to it would be. He flipped the paper open and skimmed its contents. His jaw clenched slightly, but otherwise his face remained passive.

"So… Tom's cares are going on the table. Whatever are you going to do with them?"

Elizabeth considered her options for a moment before crossing the distance between her and Red. She snatched the note from his fingers and proceeded to rip it into tiny pieces, dropping them onto her floor. Red grinned proudly.

"I wish I could be here to see it."

Elizabeth's disappointment must have showed on her face, because Red reached out and rubbed her shoulders reassuringly.

"You know I can't stay, but I promise I'll be back. Soon. Even sooner if Tom decides to cause any trouble."

She smiled warmly. How did he always know what to say? She stepped into him and let her arms circle his waist, initiating what she hoped was a much more graceful hug than the last one. He hugged her back tightly, and then let his hands fall to her hips. She froze when his fingers inched up the back of his jacket, ghosting her bare back, his fingertips traveling up her spine. Then, she felt it, his fingers tapping each and every individual vertebra.

"Red… what are you doing?"

His fingers never faltered in their path up her spine, and finally he reached the top of her back. He smoothed his hands back down her back and rested them on her waist.

"I was counting. I don't want to be able to do that when I come back."

Elizabeth smirked.

"Okay. Bossy."

She gasped as cold air hit her upper body. Red had reclaimed his jacket and was halfway to the door.

"Good luck with your husband. It's going to be a fight, but it's a fight I'm sure you can win."

And with that, he was gone. That seemed to be what he did best… shaking up her life and then leaving her to deal with it. She flipped open her phone and dialed the first number on her speed dial.

"Tom? Tom… I know you said we'd talk when you got back… but I want to talk now…"


End file.
